Historical billy goat auction | Deidesheim

If there's one thing that gets people's goat in Deidesheim it's boredom, so while the rest of the country is virtually still hibernating, they are already busy taking the bull by the horns to dispel the winter blues. This is an old tradition indeed because the historical billy-goat auction on the Tuesday following Pentecost goes back to the year 1404. Since that time, the neighbouring cloth-makers' town of Lambrecht has been paying its annual grazing rights in the Deidesheim forest in the form of a "well-horned and well-endowed" billy-goat. The youngest bridal pair from Lambrecht leads the animal to Deidesheim where it is auctioned off in spectacular fashion. As often as not, the bids are amazingly high, as are the spirits of the many visitors who attends this historical ritual.